have people like scott brown in massachusetts, linda lackl, a twice-elected governor of hawaii, running for the senate, and other wilson in new mexico, who were good statewide candidates with good credentials who lost for one reason, they had (r) next to their name. this is an albatross. this is a problem for republicans to deal with, and the president knows he has an advantage and the republicans have to get beyond this is a day are going to become competitive. >> any wiggle room in the house, charles? >> i don't understand when colby says for the president raising rates is a matter of principle. there was no principle involved. obama himself said at a briefing in july 2011 press conference that you can raise the $1.20 trillion that he wanted at the time without raising rates, by doing it by eliminating deductions and exclusions, which is the more rational way. obama's, and debt reduction commission had recommended that you raise tens of revenue for the federal government, you do tax reform, and you actually lower rates while you expand the base, and the reason is that if you

election, orn, supporting marco rubio early against charlie crist. the other hd written story is that you have two majo conservative figures leaving this week. you had dick armey leaving freedomworks, a very conservative outfit aligned with the tea party, and getting an $8 million buyouout. jim demint has gone fr the fourth poorest man in the senate's an institution, the heritage foundation, and more than $1 million. armey-demint --- they are like the congregationalist in hawaii. they came to do good, and they're doing very well. [laughter] >> with him leaving the senate and going to the hetage foundation, i think the intellectual level both places lifts up. now -- you got it. >> yeah, i got it. >> remember, heritage was the originator of the idea of the federal mandate for health insurance. >> he said we spend too much time concentrating on o obama and not our positions. don't forget that it was jim demint in 2009 who said that if we stop him on health care, this will be his waterloo. we will break him. he faid to do that. he has been a very partisan guy his whole time in the senate. >>

about the election when she said if the republican ares vote for mitt romney they would lose and now she is right again. >> the question is, are they going to raise taxes on everyone? >> they will push all of that and go to the senate and we will lose. >> why are we not here? >> it is the critical question. congress has to be here. >> why are we not here? >> the nation's finances are in a political cliff. >> republican ares are over the barrel are. >> obama is not letting up. >> this is a solvable problem. >> they are waving a white flag. >> in the 20 second sound byte world in which we live, that is the take away. >> they will be pushing that and it will go to the senate and we will lose. >> we don't have a revenue problem. >> we lost the election, sean. this is a solvable problem. >> he is not budging. >> obama is not letting up. >> there is no hard deal on the table yet. >> this is a dangerous game. >> they don't believe republicans are going over the cliff. >> let's go over the cliff. >> are they going to raise taxes on everyone? >> they will be push ping that and we'll go to the

unless you raise the rates. that's why romney couldn't explain it during the presidential election. no one can explain it because you can't do it. >> jay carney says the speaker's plans raises more questions than answers. >> we don't know who pays. we don't know what we're talking about in terms of actual legislation to increase revenues. it's magic beans and ferry dust. >> john boehner's heavy-handed approach to leadership, boehner and the republican steering committee kicked four republican congressmen out of their committee seats for voting against party leadership in the past. but boehner finds himself in an increasingly weak position. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell refused to take a position on boehner's debt plan today. >> i have no particular observation other than i commend the house leadership for trying to move. the process along and getting to a point where hopefully we can have a real discussion. >> house democrats are cranking up the pressure. tim walsh of minnesota introduced a discharge petition on the middle class tax cuts in the house. if it gets 218 signatures

point is, after the election, pollsters don't have jack squat to do. that's why i admire the folks over the democratic-leaning public policy poll who despite having nothing to ask were still willing to ask it in a really divisive way. in their first postelection national poll published yesterday, they found that 49% of g.o.p. voters nationally say they think acorn stole the election for president obama. that is truly shocking. especially since acorn doesn't exist any more. it folded two years ago. now,ppp thinks they made the republicans look like conspiracy nuts, but i say this just proves the conspiracy goes deep, so deep it doesn't even exist ( laughter ) and you know what else doesn't exist? acorn. ( applause ) and whenppp asked about possible solutions to the looming fiscal cliff, they found 39% had a strong opinion about the simpson-bowles budget plan and 25% of respondents had a strong opinion on the panetta-burns plan. fun fact-- the panetta burns plan does not exist, either. but i say it disappoint mean it's not the plan. because i think we know the solution to the fiscal

washington. let me start tonight with this. when a party loses an election, the knives come out. right now we're watching the night of the long knives on the right. these stories breaking tonight. right wing senator jim demint, the man behind too many failed right wing senate challengers, christine "i'm not a witch" o'donnell, richard mourdock announced today he's quitting the senate to run the hard right heritage foundation. meanwhile, in the republican house a purge is under way with speaker boehner dumping uncontrollable right wingers from prize committee assignments. they're out because they're too right. so what is too right for the republicans following the defeat this week or their defeat last month? is voting nay in the senate against a handicap rights treaty because it carries the nightmare dread of blue helmets riding black helicopters sweeping into your home school room. is that okay? what's out? what's in in the republican party that just took a licking? bob shrum is a democratic strategist and columnist at the daily beast, and john brabender ran rick santorum's pres

went on to lose their general elections. richard mourdock in indiana, christine o'donnell in delaware, ken buck out in colorado. bob, i'm going to back to this again. when the chief ramrod of the rift wing senate candidates leaves the post, who would replace him? how is this good news for the right? >> look, i'm not saying whether it's good news or bad news, i'm tell you what i think his calculation is. his calculation is he can be more of a free agent. i think he will get very involved in primaries, he will push hard right issues. i wish him well because the candidates e succeeded in nominating have quite often lost winnable seats. the notion for example that ted cruz -- the republicans were going to win that seat and it was going to be a conservative republican, but there are at least five senate seats and probably control of the senate that have been lost because of these tea party nominees, and he's driven that process. but you watch him drive it from outside. think of grover norquist and the influence he has. i don't like grover norquist. i don't like jim demint, but tha

election i think is very pivotal. four states did it completely by popular vote. no court ruling on rights, public will. >> for the first time in 40 years, in four states, thanks to efforts of chad and a lot of other people, for the first time, there was a populous vote and the people spoke. they have never spoken in favor before. they're are really two ways, also equal pro-tukz tection und law and a fundamental right. this is an extraordinary time. >> two questions. one is doma, defense of marriage act. this administration won't defend it in the courts. if that gets struck down, what does that say to cases where people have been allowed to marry in the same gender. what happens if doma gets struck down by the court, 5-4, whatever. >> the ridiculously named defense of marriage act would be gone. >> what would it mean to a person married? >> that would bemean couples married in those states would be recognized by the federal government. would mean we still have a lot of work to do and depending how they rule in the prop 8 case we still need other states to move forward with the right

reckless talk. >> before the election you said that you would be able to provide tax hikes. is that still the case? >> listen, raising taxes on small businesses is not going to help our economy and it's not going to help those seeking work. i came out the day after the election. but revenue is on the table to take a step towards the president to try to resolve this. when is he going to take a step towards us? >> do you see some way that you could agree to tax rate increase and protect mall businesses at the same time, maybe going with 37% or some middle ground -- >> there are a lot of things that are possible. to put the revenue that the president seeks on the table. but none of it is going to be possible if the president insists on his position, insists on my way or the highway. that's not the way to get to an agreement that i think is important for the american people and very important for our economy. thanks. >> okay. spook speaker john boehner there making a statement after the jobs report came out. maxine waters is still with us and was listening to the speaker and what he sai

all tallied, they're going to show that the 2012 presidential election was the most expensive in history. campaign finance statements put the total cost at well above $2 billion. virtually split down the middle between president obama and mitt romney. that includes nearly $86 million raised by romney during the election's final weeks. >>> and someone who has apparently run his last senate campaign is conservative republican jim demint. he announced yesterday he is leaving the senate on january 1st in order to leave a conse e conservative thinktank. whoever is chosen to lead the south carolina governor, a special election in 2014 to finish out his term. >>> a new twist in the very bizarre case of software pioneer john mcafee. the former fugitive is waking up in a detention cell in guatemala this morning, one day after being hospitalized. mcafee told abc news he suffered chest pains and then passed out. doctors don't believe he actually had a heart attack. mcafee spent three weeks running from police in belize. that's where he's wanted for questioning about the murder of his americ

talking about rock of ages, the big surprise. we have nine states that have done it. in this past election, which i think is very pivotal, four states did it completely by popular vote. no court ruling on rights, just public will. >> for the first time in 40 years in four states, thanks to the efforts of chad and a lot of other people, for the first time there was a populist vote, and the people spoke. they have never spoken in favor before, but there are really two ways. it's also equal protection under the law and also that the court has found it to be a fundamental right. this is an extraordinary, extraordinary time, and -- >> let's cut this in two. there's two questions here. one is doma, the defense of marriage act. this administration will not defend it in the courts. if that gets struck down, what does that say to cases around the country where people have been allowed to marry in the same gender? chad, on that. what happens it doma gets struck down by the court, 5-4 or whatever? >> the ridiculously named defense of marriage act would be gone obviously. >> what would it mean to a ga

america to gouge customers, short change workers and elect barriers to fair play. that is the very real fiscal lif that american consumers and workers are standing at the precipice of. with me is syracuse university law professor and pulitzer prize investigative reporter, david johnson, who provides details on how big corporations use plain english to rob you blind. in his book, "the fine print." loretta sanchez, carmin wong-ulrich, and matt welch. so nice to have you all at the table. >> good morning. >> thank you. good morning. >>> david, i stole that cyborg a bit from your text. i thought it was useful. if we are going to call them people, the kind of people they are is not immoral but amoral, interested only in profits but willing to work with the law but in a ray that erodes what our capacities are. play that out for me. >> society is defined by its rules. what we have been doing quietly and without the news media covering it is rewriting the rules. the rules of competition are being thwarted or repealed. everyone in america has had a legal right to the telephone. you have to pay f

could not be more clear 3 the election. elections data. we -- the president could not have been more clear during the election. we picked up seats. we are willing to do spending cuts. how we do that should be discussed. we need some of the revenues. there is no laugh that at up that gets us to dealing with the deficit and potentially paying down the debt and putting ourselves on a sustainable path going forward. we should do all those things and we should face them. we have been challenges going forward. it is a difference of opinion between republicans and democrats about how we get there. >> the administration absolutely was willing to let the entire tax cut expire rather than agree to anything that would extend the bush era tax rates. does the house have a position -- to the house democrats have a position on that? is that a uniform position? >> we are with the president on where we stand on this. we think the revenue from the top 2% is a marginal rates. every american is going to get a tax break on the first $250,000 of their income. there is a benefit to all americans. we are no

in this debate with the greater leverage by virtue of his re-election and the fact he campaigned the issue at the core of these negotiations, raising rates on high income. this report i don't see as changing the dynamic much at all. it was one of these reports that both side could and did day care from it what they wanted to. even at 146,000, that's not at a level high enough to be bringing back into employment a lot of people that lost their jobs. gwen: there's a public dynamic, which we just say -- saw, the president and speaker. then we hope, we assume, they're a private dynamic going on. what do we know about that? >> if you talk to the speaker of the house and his statue they say there are negotiations going on between the speaker and the president. on thursday the staffs met and hashed some things out. i'm told they're going to continue talks through the weekend now, so there's something going on here behind the scenes. what we don't know but publicly they continue to fire off artillery barrageses. part of it is they can't admit they have a deal until they have one nailed down.

: one thing -- you and i might disagree -- but i think that elections do have consequences, the american people since seem to support they want to stick it to the rich, i do not agree with that i think that hoops that republicans are going through to find an alternative to raising raters on clinton era rates. it could get so ca complicated d get worse. when you talk mortgages and charities and everything else. why not raise rates on rich, fight for a simp her tax system that -- simpler tax system that might provide lower taxes down the road. >> well we need to demand concessions on spending. neil: we're not getting them. >> that is the point, so putting up taxes is not a way of getting concessions in the future. neil: from the get go they put up that 800 billion figure. >> a starting point, the problem is that, as you know, not only will the democrats want more in taxes, but they have in place, with this horrible deal that was done a year and a half ago with debt sealing that gives deal -- there is a deal in place. and it recalls that fiscal cliff, but the deal of made a year and a half

. >>> so, 2012 was officially the most expensive election in american political history. the final reports show that spending on the campaign broke the $2 billion landmark and milestone in its final weeks, helping set the record. las vegas casino mogul sheldon adelson and his wife poured more than $95 million into super political action committees that helped republicans, including mitt romney. >>> this sounds more like a plot out of a tom clancy cold war novel. a rove navy sailor is suspected of telling top-secret submarine tracking technology to the russians. nbc affiliate reporter andy fox with wavy has this story. >> reporter: robert hoffman appeared in court wearing a t-shirt with a rooster on it with the words "born to fight," in reference to cock fighting. mr. hoffman, did you try to sell government secrets? just a big smirky smile from hoffman, who retired a year ago and is trained as a navy cryptologic technician. he is able to find submarines using sophisticated direction-finding technology. the indictment reads hoffman had access to top-secret information which could cau

first time in 42 years that they elect their first prime minister. thank you united states for your support. again, we are sorry on behalf of libyan people for the loss of this great friend. thank you very much. [applause] >>> good afternoon, barbara lee. i represent the 9th district, including piedmont and berkeley, where ambassador stevens spent many of his formative years to. the family and friends of our beloved ambassador stevens, to mayor lee, senator feinstein, representative miller and spear, to the attorney general, ambassadors past and present, my friends. let me first express my sincereest condolences to ambassador stevens' family, friends and colleagues in the face of your tremendous loss. ambassador stevens and the others who lost their lives in libya worked each and every day to advance the highest ideals of this great nation. they will never be forgotten. ambassador stevens, in spite of the many challenges of seeking global peace and security, he truly believed peace is possible. representatives george miller and jackie spear both are with us today. our delegation has

burren. >> and this man, i did not realize we elected vampire to the senate. >> we didn't. this is william henry harrison. john tyler, 10th president had the most children, would you like to guess how many. >> 425. >> 14. >> 14. all right. who is this? >> our 18th president you lisses s grant. >> what does the s stand for. >> that's a great question. >> thank you. >> this doesn't seem fair. why does fdr get to sit down. >> i can lick him. >> you cannot. >> we're wearing almost the compaq same suit and tie t would be like licking myself. >> something i've also dreamed of doing. >> that i don't mind but not ronald reagan. >> i don't mind it either but all the hot-- isn't bringing that around. all right. i'm from the future. got to get out. >> can i lick him. >> no, please don't. >> why, you seem pretty up set just now. before you said no, now you seem up set. >> i'm getting up set. >> you're getting up set. why, why is this one so special, why does it up set you to ask if i can lick lincoln. >> you can't lick any of our wax figures. >> but this is the one that somehow broke the camel

defunct nonprofit group helped steal the election for president obama all that more in tonight's lone liberal rumble and thousands of men women and children die every year as a result of senseless and completely preventable gun violence but have we become a nation that's afraid to talk about guns and to create the laws that are needed to effectively regulate that will protect american lives. you need to know this paranoid delusions swept the floor of the united states senate on tuesday as a group of republican senators blocked ratification of a u.n. treaty to help disabled people around the planet the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities requires signatory u.n. nations to provide for disabled populations in the exact same way as does the american one nine hundred ninety americans with disabilities act the treaty would require absolutely no changes to current u.s. law suite already passed the american americans with disabilities act more than twenty years ago it simply calls on other nations to adopt these same american standards. standards that were signed in place by

rsing his post-election advantage to win tax increaseson the wealthy and to eliminate the houses debt ceiling leveraged. joining us now from washington d.c., peter wallace, former reagan white house counsel, former member of the financial crisis inquiry commission. a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. good to have you here. you believe there going or the cliff. >> i think their is a real danger of this. one can see a path for obaaa that does not look so terrible if we do go over the cliff. all of the taxes go up, but the democrats have an opportunity to introduce legislation to reduce the taxes for 98 percent of the people leaving the wealthier people, i guess you could call them wealthy, the top two percentage to stay at the high rates. it is possible to do this. lou: it is posible, but i have to ask you, surely the republicans have to understand and had understand six months ago what what transpired in this lame duck session of congress? what this president oud press forward to. the fiscal cliff, the result of sequestration and agreements between the two paries, cap

to be with you. >> bret: why are you doing it? >> if you look at the 2012 election, apparent that the conservatives need to do more to convince americans that ideas will make the lives better. unfortunately in the senate what we have to do is point out bad policy with the president. that is important job. my background is research and marketing to people. to leverage their assets to communicate to all americans we can make their lives bette better, this is a dream job for me. klitcally important. i don't think the republicans will win another national election unless conservatives convince americans the principles will work. then libertarians and independents and democrats can embrace the conservative ideas if americans believe they're the real solutions. >> bret: what do you say to the constituents who say he was my guy? >> i am still that guy. what i have done like help elect good con seventive senators and stop bad things like earmarks is only because i've gone outside the senate to take the case to the american people to create pressure on the senate to do the right thing. i can d

by going to electoral war with his own party leadership. in the 2012 midterm elections demint threw his weight behind marco rubio in the republican primary for florida's senate race. despite the fact that the national republican senatorial committee and republican leader mitch mcconnell endorsed charlie crist in that race. marco rubio went on to win that primary and that senate seat. demint also backed rand paul in his primary. that was a fight, by the way, that took place in mcconnell's home state of kentucky and mcconnell endorsed the other guy. the not rand paul. but paul won. he won his senate race in kentucky which was deeply humiliating for mitch mcconnell. but demint has also backed a lot of candidates who won their primaries but did not go on to win their general elections. like christine "i am not a witch" o'donnell if you remember her. demint backed the not a witch candidate and she lost big time. he backed todd aiken of the legitimate rape comments and mourdock of the other rape comments. the reason jim demint isn't in the majority today is because of jim demint. but jim

our businesses. companies need to know consumers will be able to spend and in his first post-election interview president obama again rejected the house republican counteroffer that is on the table. >> unfortunately the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> let's hope he sticks to it. >> g.o.p. leaders aren't only dealing with the president and congressional democrats they're dealing with a split within their own ranks. more conservative republicans don't want party leaders to compromise anymore than they think they already have. even though the republican plan offers up $800 billion in new taxes without upping tax rates at all tea party leaders say higher taxes shouldn't be in any form because it is not what republicans stand for. south carolina senator jim demint went so far as to call on supporters of his senate conservative fund to call senate republicans and ask them to oppose what he's calling the boehner tax hike. the looming question for republic

i'm not sure we're going over the fiscal cliff. right after the election wall street dropped 5% when everybody suddenly focused on the fiscal cliff and realized that this was a problem. but since then it's kind of bumped along at this sort of level. i don't think wall street is at all sanguine about the idea that if we went over the fiscal cliff, life would go on as we know it and everything would be fine. >> one of the things that was really interesting to me to bear out that point is ken conrad yesterday who's been so down, i mean, he's leaving the senate. he's done this for seven years. they can't produce deals. and yesterday when i interviewed him, joe, he said i think we're going to make this. i think the boehner offer had significant indicators that something here is going on, and they're going to come together. >> also, kent conrad, a guy -- i've loved him for a long time, deficit hawk. they haven't allowed him to put a budget out for years. he's growing frustrated. i'm sure he's going to be glad to leave. but i was surprised by that as well. you see also, sam stein, republica

election? >> well, certainly some of the republicans have caught on and also realize they are just on the wrong side of the majority of americans by saying that they are going to go to the mat. they are going to fight to the finish. they are willing to bring the economy down to fight for the top 2%? really? this is not going to help them. if they want to win in any future election, they are taking the wrong positions. some republicans are definitely coming around to that conclusion. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky and margie omero, thank you both for your time tonight. >>> senator tom hawken joins us next. >>> plus, the grand old party gets a grand old makeover. wait until you hear what paul ryan is saying about the 47%. >>> the one and only rosie perez is in the house and i just learned today we have something in common. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. >>> get this, earlier today mitt romney was spotted on a costco shopping spree. that's right. he ended up buying 14 costcos. ♪ [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issue